How repairs were made after a 21st century winter met a Victorian railway cutting

Video report by ITV News Meridian's Tony Green


Repairs have been made following a landslip on the North Kent line between Rainham and Sittingbourne.

Following the incident, trains were unable to run there for two weeks when heavy rain caused the landslip, covering 40m of track.

Engineers were on site ever since, creating a solution to a drainage problem that demanded immediate attention.

Repairs on the landslip at Newington

Chris Denham from Network Rail said: "We knew we were going to have to do the drainage work because it's renowned for flooding here; but we didn't know there was going to be a landslip. So we came in and fixed 60m of wall."

The slip occurred on a section of railway built in 1858, where the line is cut 13m deep into the surrounding hill.

After days of heavy rain, the top section of the cutting side gave way and slowly slipped downhill towards the track.

Network Rail says it is investing £130m in fixing earthworks over the next 5 years.